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Clearaudio Emotion or Concept?

guiller

guiller

Toscaninichus Australis
I'm considering buying a new Clearaudio Emotion (with Satisfy tonearm) TT to pair together with a Micro-Benz Ace cartridge, which I'm planning to get separately. The Clearaudio local dealer told me that, for almost the same TT price, I could get the "new" Concept TT, that in principle should have a better tonearm. The looks of the Concept is less favorable in my mind than that of the Emotion. Therefore, I'd ask for opinions and recommendations having this choice in mind.
 
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guiller said:
I'm considering buying a new Clearaudio Emotion (with Satisfy tonearm) TT to pair together with a Micro-Benz Ace cartridge, which I'm planning to get separately. The Clearaudio local dealer told me that, for almost the same TT price, I could get the "new" Concept TT, that in principle should have a better tonearm. The looks of the Concept is less favorable in my mind than that of the Emotion. Therefore, I'd ask for opinions and recommendations having this choice in mind.
Click to expand...

Not only the much, much better tonearm but also a better platter, motor and chassis.
Compared with these record player the Emotion is "Mini Mouse".
 
tomatamot said:
Not only the much, much better tonearm but also a better platter, motor and chassis.
Compared with these record player the Emotion is "Mini Mouse".
Click to expand...

I am hearing the motor/plinth/platter combo is running quieter and more stable than the Emotion, but cannot verify this.

The arm I've read is a cheaper version of the Satisfy, with magnetics used in the arm balance- is this correct?

Rumors here is even though it is cheaper, it is just as good, perhaps better than the pricier Satisfy.
 
I have a Marantz TT15-S1, which is an upgraded, rebadged Emotion/Satisfy. I run a Benz Ace, HOMC cart on it. My local dealer has a Concept in, and I would like to hear it, especially since he'll hang an Ace on it, for me to audition. The combo I have has brought me a lot of enjoyment, and I haven't been looking to upgrade, but I think the Concept would be where I start, if for no other reason than to compare the new arm to the Satisfy.
 
A happy clearaudio emotion and satisfy owner here. I have a wood body clearaudio cart on the satisfy arm and I like the sound very much. I've had this set up for a couple of years now and it's one of the few pieces of gear that I haven't even thought about upgrading.
Sorry I can't help you with the Concept; I've never owned one of those.
 
Thanks a lot to all for your inputs! I'll hope to be able to settle down soon and make a move.
 
thedelihaus said:
I am hearing the motor/plinth/platter combo is running quieter and more stable than the Emotion, but cannot verify this.

The arm I've read is a cheaper version of the Satisfy, with magnetics used in the arm balance- is this correct?

Rumors here is even though it is cheaper, it is just as good, perhaps better than the pricier Satisfy.
Click to expand...

thedelihaus, the arm has a construction ( but inverse ) like the very expensive Schroeder arm.
There is a magnet on top of the armtube and opposite a wire to the armboard.
And the Schroeder has the wire on top of the arm tube and the magnet below the armtube.
This arm does`nt sound cheap!
And the Emotion is`nt a bad turntable at all, but the Concept is a later product and sounds really much better IMHO.
I`ve compared the 2 turntable`s.
 
luvvinvinyl said:
I have a Marantz TT15-S1, which is an upgraded, rebadged Emotion/Satisfy. I run a Benz Ace, HOMC cart on it. My local dealer has a Concept in, and I would like to hear it, especially since he'll hang an Ace on it, for me to audition. The combo I have has brought me a lot of enjoyment, and I haven't been looking to upgrade, but I think the Concept would be where I start, if for no other reason than to compare the new arm to the Satisfy.
Click to expand...
You should pop in and hear the Concept. I heard it there and I liked it a lot. Sonics seem very good and I thought it was a sweet little package as well.
 
luvvinvinyl said:
I'm a bit concerned that, if I hear it, I'll want one, and I hate waiting.
Click to expand...
:D There's one sitting there right now as you know. I can fairly safely say that if untold wealth wafted through here suddenly it would be on my short list of things to spend some on. There's nothing shocking about the Concept, just a really nicely conceived design that strikes me as the result of very coordinated thinking. I suspect it maybe actually works out in total maybe better than the designers imagined, just a thought. The arm is quite fascinating, though. Dang, now I'm going to have to find time to drop in and hear it again. Look what you've done.....
 
I bet a lot of us 'wishing' for one of these things could sell off the gear we haven't used in over a year and finance it....

just thinking here....

and wishing....

drooling...

(this from the jack*ss who already has his dream VPI...). I just can't stop wanting turntables!
 
A concern that grew on me is that the Concept may be not so friendly for hosting cartridges other than the one provided with it. Are out there any users who use it with other carts as well?
 
Wasn't there a concern raised in another thread about passing the signal from the cart through a magnetic field like that? Did anyone get more info on it?
 
luvvinvinyl said:
I have a Marantz TT15-S1, which is an upgraded, rebadged Emotion/Satisfy. I run a Benz Ace, HOMC cart on it. My local dealer has a Concept in, and I would like to hear it, especially since he'll hang an Ace on it, for me to audition. The combo I have has brought me a lot of enjoyment, and I haven't been looking to upgrade, but I think the Concept would be where I start, if for no other reason than to compare the new arm to the Satisfy.
Click to expand...

The Marantz is not an Emotion. The Marantz uses different platter(thicker), different plynth, different feet(massive machined aluminum ones) and a different bearing size. It uses the same arm... but uhm... the Satisfy arm is found on a wide range of tables up to the $6500 Clearaudio Ambient. It uses the same motor as the emotion - and if that is making it a rebadged Emotion... okay.

-Chris
 
thedelihaus said:
I am hearing the motor/plinth/platter combo is running quieter and more stable than the Emotion, but cannot verify this.
Click to expand...

I have never used the Emotion, but the Marantz version runs absolute quiet in regards to output signal and the speed stability averaged 0.05% with FFT analysis, with a 0.15% peak variance that cycled with rotation: the peak could have been imperfect centering in the test record since it was a regular cycle peak. In any case, it is better than spec.

The arm I've read is a cheaper version of the Satisfy, with magnetics used in the arm balance- is this correct?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. The Satisfy uses a much more expensive back end gimbal. They both share the same arm tube and head for the most part.

Rumors here is even though it is cheaper, it is just as good, perhaps better than the pricier Satisfy.
Click to expand...

Seems unlikely. Looks more like a big cost savings method to me.

-Chris
 
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